American Made

Tell That to the Border Guard

Okay, let me get this right. You're from York, Pennsylvania, and you went all the way to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, to buy this car. You say it was built in Michigan, and now I'm supposed to let you take it home?" That's the essence of what the Canadian border crossing guard said to Wayne Bushey as he was trying to bring his '63 Nova into the USA. Of course, there may have been a duty attached to this car if Wayne was exporting it, but since it was actually built in Wayne's home country, he let it go. And we think our local DMV is tough!

Wayne, who is president of National Nostalgic Nova, bought the car as a '63 from a man who lived on a boat and parked the car in a shopping mall parking lot. Amazingly, when the car was disassembled, it was almost rust-free. Wayne and his son, Dave Fredrick, along with friends Frank Bloom and Matt Bushey, converted the car into a '64, which they feel is the car "Chevy should have built." One of their challenges was fitting the Billet Specialties 17x8 rear wheels mounting Cooper 245-45-17 rubber on the rear without cutting the body. This was done successfully by moving the leaf springs in 1/2 inch. Both front and rear suspensions incorporate Air Lift Easy Street suspension, controlled by a Dakota Digital remote control. Total lowering front and rear is approximately 7 inches.

When the red basecoat was first sprayed on, Bushey and his son both hated it. Fortunately, they got used to it before doing anything drastic. The modifications incorporated into this car are extensive. Even if Chevy had decided to build this car in 1964, chances are it wouldn't have turned out quite as beautiful as Bushey's!

Like everything else in the aftermarket world, someone came up with a kit that takes the pressure off of us, making something like installing cruise control easier, that company is Dakota Digital. - Super Chevy Magazine » Read More